Traitor
by Artemis the Rebel
Summary: When Sathkan Lun, the uncertain and incapable apprentice of Darth Vader, accidentally becomes caught up in the affairs of a band of rebels, which side will he ultimately betray: the Empire that raised him, or the rebels who are straining to show him the light?
1. Introduction

TRAITOR

INTRODUCTION

"YOU HAVE FAILED ME - FOR THE LAST TIME."

SATHKAN knelt before the towering black figure of Darth Vader. On the inside, Sathkan was terrified. He knew Vader was going to kill him. But he didn't let it show.

Vader slowly paced back and forth before him. "Starkiller... and now you, Sathkan." He paused. "How hard is it to kill a Jedi?" he asked, his voice deadly calm.

Sathkan wisely did not answer that question.

"I am sure," Vader said slowly, "it will be no harder... than killing _you."_

Sathkan kept his gray eyes open, staring at the tiles. He waited for nothing at all to begin crushing his throat - but nothing happened.

"You showed promise, Sathkan. I was more careful this time in choosing my apprentice. It had to be someone who was not nearly as powerful as Starkiller. Someone I could easily crush, should they become traitorous, as Starkiller did. But your prowess grew quickly, Sathkan. Very quickly. You impressed me, and with that, you worried me, as the flea worries the Lothcat. You, with further training, could as well be Starkiller."

"I am not Starkiller," Sathkan said, just softly enough so his defiant voice wouldn't tremble or crack - as he could feel it threatening to.

"And yet you _are."_

"Starkiller could kill a Jedi. I was defeated, Master. More training is what I need."

"I agree with you," Darth Vader said, still with that perilous ease. "But if I do train you more, you could become as great as Starkiller was."

Sathkan wondered dully if Darth Vader could hear his heart hammering against his ribs. "I will never be Starkiller, Master."

"And why do you believe this?"

Sathkan had to force his answer out. "Because Starkiller was not a coward."

Darth Vader was silent.

Sathkan again waited to be suddenly gasping for air.

Perhaps Vader would slice him in half with his lightsaber.

But that was not what happened.


	2. Chapter 1

SATHKAN marched forward with the other stormtroopers.

He hated the armor. It felt clunky and unnatural to him. He hated the marching. He was always out of sync with the other troopers. He hated the blaster. It felt large and unwieldy in his hands, and his aim left something to be desired.

But most of all, he hated demotion.

Five weeks ago, his former master, Darth Vader, had sentenced him to a completely new life. Five weeks of crash course lessons had ensued - testing his agility, endurance, wits, and reflexes, teaching him how to use an Imperial blaster and operate things like TIE fighters and Imperial walkers.

Sathkan had failed a lot, barely made it through. If he hadn't, Vader would have destroyed him - though Sathkan thought death might be better than this. He was bruised all over from training drills and getting shoved by the stormtroopers who ridiculed him, and he felt like a plug that had been wrenched out of one power outlet and abruptly jammed into another that was a little too small.

Even worse, everyone had orders to watch Sathkan, and never trust him... especially not with an Imperial vehicle. What was the point of teaching him to drive those things if he never got to use them?

Maybe today Sathkan would prove himself. Today was his first real mission: be on the lookout for rebel activity.

Today was his round two - and his last chance to prove to his master that he was worth keeping.

The stormtroopers were assigned to different streets. There were 15 total selected for the mission, including Sathkan. Commander Kaff divided everyone into twos and sent them off to patrol different areas of Capitol City, Lothal. Eventually, an odd number of troopers were left over: ...one.

"You and I will go together, Cadet," Commander Kaff told Sathkan nastily. "I'm taking you to a puny street where we're sure not to see _half_ a rebel. That should be easy enough for you, aye?"

Sathkan saluted. They still made him wear cadet armor, mostly so that they could easily single him out as _him -_ and partially to insult him, Sathkan thought.

He followed Commander Kaff through Capitol City. He noticed how the citizens scrambled away from him and Kaff, watched them pass in fear. Commander Kaff held his head up high, a slight smirk on his face. Sathkan was glad his own face was completely hidden. He didn't like how all those people were afraid...

He walked behind Commander Kaff for a long while, until they reached a shady back alley. No one else was there. Kaff leaned against the stone wall of a building. "Alright, Cadet, stand alert," he ordered lazily. "Keep an eye out for that half a rebel."

Sathkan squashed down his annoyance and saluted again. "Sir, yes, sir!" He headed over to the alley's entrance and stood erect, staring out at the network of dark, empty streets, his too-heavy blaster aimed straight ahead.

Ten minutes passed. Not a soul appeared on the streets. Sathkan's hands were cramping from holding the blaster, and he was unsure whether his legs were falling asleep, or just getting sore.

Twenty minutes. Sathkan's legs were screaming, his hands were unbearably pained, and his arms were aching furiously. He heard Commander Kaff snoring behind him. Great.

Twenty-five minutes passed.

Sathkan's eyelids were drooping. He had belted his blaster and was leaning heavily against a wall... when he saw a blur of movement. He snapped to attention, staring at the street ahead.

 _To his astonishment, there was something there._

Sathkan, glad of any excuse to stretch his stiff legs, strode forward five feet. He stopped, stretched all his aching limbs, then stooped, inspecting the weird object that sat in the street.

It was shaped like a sphere, only cut horizontally in half. He reached down to pick up the oddity. "What the..."

"Whoa! Stop right there, kid."

Sathkan instinctively leapt back, fumbling for his blaster. That was _not_ Commander Kaff's voice. He pulled out the blaster, awkwardly trying to get his hands to hold it correctly. The trigger was a bit far for his fingers to reach, the handle too broad to hold with only one hand. It was too heavy for him to hold with just one hand, anyway.

"Now, this is interesting," the casual, feminine voice observed. "I've never seen a cadet out here before - _especially_ not one who couldn't hold a blaster right."

Sathkan looked up from his blaster. There was a girl standing in the entrance to another alley, leaning coolly against a building as she watched him. She was wearing some sort of trooper armor, boots, and helmet, but they looked like they had been painted on, so they were composed of dark pinks, oranges, and scribbly designs, rather than solid white.

"You're not a stormtrooper," Sathkan said dumbly.

"Nope," the girl said with a laugh. "That's for sure." She gestured at the object in the street. "That's a bomb. It will explode if something touches it." She crossed her arms. "That close to it, it would probably have killed you," she added, as if voicing an unimportant afterthought.

Sathkan felt all the blood drain from his face. "Oh," he said, his voice rather choked. "Thanks for the save."

"Yeah," the girl sighed, waving one hand dismissively.

"Did you, um... see _who_ put that bomb there?" Sathkan looked around nervously. He didn't see anyone else at all...

"I did," the girl said evenly.

 _"You_ did?" Sathkan repeated, stunned.

"Yeah," she sighed again, then chuckled. "I suggest you get out of here, kid. I'd hate it if you got hurt. I mean, I know you're an Imperial... but I don't hurt kids." She straightened, taking out a small blaster from her belt and aiming it at the bomb. _"We_ don't. So run."

Sathkan's knuckles turned white, but he didn't budge.

"You're... you're a _rebel,"_ he said slowly. He couldn't believe it. Against all odds... here was the chance that would save his skin, put his life back to normal. _Standing right in front of him._

"That's right, genius," said the girl warily. "Come on, move it!"

Sathkan put one finger on the trigger and slowly, slowly lifted the heavy muzzle of his blaster until it pointed straight at the girl, who tensed.

"Don't even think about it," she warned. "I don't want to detonate that bomb with you right there, but I will."

Sathkan suddenly felt strangely… _terrible._

"I don't want to do this either," he said quietly, admitting the truth. "I'm sorry. I _have_ to." He meant it, and he could tell the girl was startled. She lowered her blaster rifle.

"Then why are you an Imperial?" she asked, her voice suddenly soft.

Sathkan steeled himself. "That's not for you to know," he declared, as coldly and firmly as he could, given how terrified he was.

He didn't see the girl adjust the aim of her blaster rifle, but suddenly the Force went off in his head, screaming _DANGER._

Sathkan dove to the left as the girl opened fire at where he had just been standing. He hit the ground in a roll and came up on his feet. Sathkan stared at the rebel in disbelief.

She stared back, shocked. "How… how did you…"

She fired again, and again Sathkan dodged a split second before she pulled the trigger.

"You missed," he said, aiming at her again and making himself fire – only nothing came out the end of his blaster. He gazed in horrified astonishment at his weapon… and then it dawned on him.

 _They trust me so little that they gave me a blaster that doesn't work._

Commander Kaff, awakened by the ruckus, burst out of the alley. _"WHAT'S GOING ON?!"_ he roared, then froze, staring.

"For the last time, kid!" shouted the rebel girl. "GET LOST!"

Sathkan turned, fighting with himself. "Commander Kaff!" he yelped. "Run!"

Commander Kaff glowered at him angrily. He didn't know what was happening, but he blamed Sathkan. Never would he admit to his own taking a nap. Later, Kaff would be questioned; the tale he told would be a very altered one from the truth – in which everything was directly Sathkan's fault.

In an instant, Sathkan realized all this. He also realized that there was only one option, and he had to choose it _now._ The Force rang louder and louder in his mind as each millisecond flew by.

Sathkan turned and ran, just in time.

Behind him, the rebel fired, the bomb exploding in a powerful burst of glittery flames and searing heat. The blast shoved him in the back. He staggered, stumbled, then sprinted on.


	3. Chapter 2

SATHKAN's helmet, of course, lacked a radio communicator. How he wished he had one – but he was no way _trustworthy_ enough.

So he just kept running. Hopefully, Kaff would – no, he'd probably just have all the troopers after _Sathkan,_ rather than the rebel.

Sathkan dove down a side street, startling a couple of unregistered traders. He narrowly dodged smashing an old Astromech droid, turned a corner so sharp he almost tripped and fell, and dashed out into a small square. He stumbled to a halt, panting. He felt like he wasn't getting enough air under his helmet, so he pulled it off with his free hand. He held it under one arm as he shoved the too-heavy blaster into his belt.

 _I have to find that rebel,_ he thought as he gasped for breath. _But she's definitely not back by that alley anymore…_ Sathkan looked up, shaking his coppery-blonde hair out of his steel-gray eyes, and scanned the square, hoping there was a nicer stormtrooper there who would help him. There were none. The square was mostly empty, with only a couple illegal stalls offering illegal wares, owned by bored and irritable vendors who looked like they definitely did _not_ speak Galactic Basic.

Besides the vendors, there wasn't anybody in the square, except for a tall man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties. He had a tan complexion, troubled cyan eyes, and dark brown hair drawn back in a ponytail. There was a bit of facial hair at the end of his chin, and his angular eyebrows were pinched together. The man was frowning about something or other.

The very instant Sathkan laid eyes on the stranger, the Force began to _scream._

Sathkan cried out in shock and pain and clutched at his head, groaning. He hardly heard the clatter of his helmet hitting the ground. This had never happened to Sathkan before. It was so _loud…_ it _hurt…_ Usually the Force was so much _quieter._ Was it trying to warn him about something? If it was, something _really_ horrible was about to happen – and he wouldn't be able to escape. The Force was howling too loudly in his mind for him to do anything but sit down hard.

Suddenly, there was a strong hand gripping his shoulder. "Are you all right, kid?" Sathkan heard somebody ask, and the ringing abruptly stopped, leaving him feeling kind of woozy and shaky.

He blinked twice, shook his head, and then looked up, a little dazed. The man's concerned cyan eyes stared back at him.

"Yes, sir," mumbled Sathkan, stumbling to his feet. The man kindly helped him up.

Sathkan swayed dizzily, but the man held onto him.

"What happened?" the stranger asked, his eyebrows meeting again. He tilted his head and gave Sathkan an odd look the boy couldn't interpret.

"I…" Sathkan knew better than to tell a completely unfamiliar person, however kind, that he had been mentally betrayed by the Force. "I get vertigo, sir," he said lamely.

"Mmhm," the man grunted, his eyebrows lifting. So he knew Sathkan was lying. Too bad – Sathkan was _not_ about to tell the truth.

Sathkan noticed the vendors gawking at them. He felt annoyed, but at the same time, he didn't really care.

"Thank you for helping me, sir," Sathkan said sincerely. "I'm sorry I inconvenienced you."

The man sighed. "It's fine, kid – you didn't... _'inconvenience'_ me." He paused suddenly as a disembodied voice issued from his belt.

"Specter One! Come in, this is Specter Five."

Sathkan's eyes stretched wide in disbelief. _It was the rebel girl's voice._

The man's face grew taut as he glanced nervously at Sathkan. "Specter Five, I-"

"Specter One, the distraction has been created. Specter Four and Specter Six are free to begin stage two," the rebel girl interrupted.

The man grimaced, glancing at Sathkan again. "S-Specter Five -I know, I heard the explosion, but-"

"But _what,_ Specter One?" she demanded. "It took me five _days_ to make that bomb. It was beautiful. And the others are going to miss their window! The mission will fail!"

"Specter Five, I'm trying to _tell_ you-"

Sathkan reached for his blaster with shaking fingers.

"You're not calling the mission off?! Specter One, we've made it so far! The information was spot-on! We _need_ these supplies!"

 _"You've been speaking under an Imperial presence, Specter Five!"_ shouted the stranger. _"There is an Imperial cadet STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO ME."_ The man slapped himself in the face. _"That's_ what I've been trying to tell you, Specter Five."

Specter Five went very quiet.

Sathkan had his clunky blaster gripped in both hands.

The man noticed what Sathkan was doing and whipped around, his palms in the air and his eyes stretched wide.

"You're... you're under arrest," Sathkan stammered. "For... for treason."

"Specter One..." The rebel girl's voice was quiet and fearful. "I'm calling backup."

"Hold on a second, Specter Five," the man said calmly, his eyes locked on Sathkan, but the small com in his belt had gone silent.

Sathkan's jaw was set. He knew his blaster didn't work, but the rebel didn't. He stared at the tall man, who stared back.

"Why are you afraid?"

Sathkan flinched, taken aback.

The rebel's cyan eyes were gentle. "I can see you're afraid, cadet. Your hands are shaking." He tilted his head. "But why? Are you afraid of _me?_ I'm on the _wrong_ end of that blaster."

Sathkan cast his eyes downwards, unnerved. He felt like the rebel was reading his soul. "That's true," he mumbled, glancing up again. "So why aren't _you_ afraid?"

The man smiled vaguely. "Because you're not going to shoot me."

Sathkan's eyebrows met. "What makes you think I won't?" he demanded nervously, hefting his blaster, which was making his wrists ache.

The rebel reached forward and put a hand on Sathkan's left shoulder. "For one, your blaster's dead," he said, grinning. Sathkan's eyes widened in shock. "Secondly, I don't believe you would hurt me, even if it wasn't."

Sathkan's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

The man lifted his gaze, looking at something behind Sathkan. "Don't fire, Specter Four," he ordered. "He was never going to harm me."

Sathkan stiffened and slowly turned to find the muzzle of some sort of very large blaster pointing into his face.

All the color promptly drained from his complexion.

The blaster was wielded by a muscular, short-furred, green-eyed beast that almost reminded Sathkan of a Lothcat - if Lothcats were seven feet tall, gray with purplish stripes, humanoid, and blaster-wielding.

The creature growled and reluctantly lowered his blaster. His ears were pinned back and he eyed Sathkan with disgust and hatred. "Fine, but if it makes _one_ wrong move, I'm shootin' it."

Sathkan swallowed.

A boy who looked a little older than he was stepped out from behind the enormous guy with the blaster and surveyed Sathkan. The boy's short, unruly hair was jet black and hung in front of his eyes, which were bluer than any Sathkan had ever seen. The boy wore mostly orange, and had a complexion that was slightly darker than "Specter One"'s. "He doesn't look very dangerous," the boy remarked, stooping down and picking up Sathkan's helmet.

"Give me that back," Sathkan said weakly, attempting to grab it. The boy dodged him easily and tucked the helmet underneath one arm.

"Specter Six," warned the rebel man.

The boy sighed and tossed the helmet at Sathkan, who dropped his blaster in order to catch it.

"You can have that," Sathkan mumbled, shoving the blaster towards the blue-eyed rebel with the toe of his boot. "It doesn't work... and it's too heavy."

The boy considered Sathkan, then lifted the blaster off the ground thoughtfully. "Maybe I could fix it," he mused, eyes on Sathkan.

Sathkan frowned. The Force rang in his head when the boy looked at him - not as loudly as before, thank goodness.

"What are we gonna do with it, Specter One?" demanded the massive, aggressive rebel with the big, strange blaster (which he kept pointed at Sathkan) - just as the final rebel ran into the square.

Sathkan recognized _her_ immediately, and _she_ recognized _him._

"I knew I shouldn't have let you go," she growled, aiming not one, but two blaster rifles at Sathkan.

Sathkan stood frozen. _There's no way out._

He slowly slid on his helmet as the man, who still stood behind him, said with exasperation: "Relax. He's not a threat. We'll take him back to the Ghost, and-"

Sathkan loathed to reveal his abilities, but he knew he had no other choice.

He was not going to be captured. That would be the worst form of failure he could possibly be endowed with today.

Sathkan closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating, then thrust one hand towards the biggest thread - the mutant Lothcat creature... or, more specifically, the blaster the creature was holding.

The behemoth yelped in shock as his weapon flew from his grasp to whack the rebel girl in the helmet. She cried out and stumbled, firing her blaster rifles - mostly accidentally. All she hit was stone street, way far away from Sathkan. But it didn't matter anyway - Sathkan had long since leapt away, too quickly for Specter One to seize from him from behind.

The monster roared with rage and sprang forward. Sathkan yanked his helmet off and threw it at the rebel's face, then turned and bolted.

The rebel snatched the helmet out of the air before it hit him. Snarling, he hurled it after Sathkan, but the Imperial cadet was already gone, fleeing at top speed down a narrow street.


	4. Chapter 3, Pt One

**Thanks for all the reviews, you guys It's always meant a lot to me that people like my writing. Let me know if you have any ideas for stuff that happens in book 2! (I know it's super early up the line right now, but I'm drawing up a blank in that notebook xD)**

 **I'm also considering posting a couple other fanfics on here. One follows my OC, Quint Earthdown, a Jedi who fled the Republic before the Clone Wars broke out. Another is about two other, new OCs of mine, a female Jedi and her Padawan. That fanfiction will almost definitely not include any appearances of canon characters, only a couple mentionings. One chapter will be told in first person by one character, then the next chapter will be told by a different chapter, and it will switch back and forth and so on. What do you think?**

* * *

SATHKAN ran so hard he was nearly falling forward. He knew it didn't matter. He would wear out. The rebels would catch him - he could hear them coming after him already. And then, if the rebels for some reason did not kill him, eventually Darth Vader would.

"Just once, I'd like some _GOOD_ luck," Sathkan gasped as he dove down a side street.

Unfortunately, his wish would not be granted.

The street was crowded with people.

Sathkan stumbled to a halt, his eyes wide. A shout from behind him, however, spurred him on. He darted into the thick cloud of milling-about citizens. They yelped, shrieked, and scrambled out of his way, but the Force was alert in his head, preventing him from crashing into anyone. By the time he reached the end of the street, he had not so much as brushed a single person.

He paused for a moment, struggling to catch his breath. _It'll take awhile for them to catch up with me,_ he thought with relief, his hands on his knees as he heaved air in and out.

Then he saw, to his horror, Specter One and Specter Six - weaving through the crowd as easily as he had.

Sathkan yelped in alarm, whipped around, and continued to run.

The second he rounded the corner, he collided with something that felt like a stone wall.

Sathkan went sprawling on the hard, hard ground, lying flat on his back. He slowly opened his eyes, dazed, as he was lifted into the air by the front of his cadet suit of armor.

He snapped out of it, yelling, kicking his legs, and shoving at the oversized fist that held him suspended almost five feet off the ground.

"Hullo," snarled Specter Five, baring his fangs. Then he dashed Sathkan against the flat stone street.

He groaned, his ears ringing furiously. Then he realized through the sharp pain in his back, shoulders, and everywhere else that it wasn't just his ears: it was the Force, too, screaming in his head.

Sathkan only winced. There was nothing he could do to avoid any oncoming danger. His body was too jarred from being slammed down into the ground... _twice._

Through the ringing - which had suddenly grown even louder - he heard the voices of the rebels.

"Come on, Kanan. I _really_ wanna kill it."

"He didn't do anything wrong, Zeb. He was defending himself, is all. And we need him alive."

"He used the Force," agreed the voice of Specter Six. "That's _gotta_ be investigated."

"I really don't like him," muttered Specter Five. "I think he's a rat, and I should have blown him up while I had the chance."

"You know you don't mean that, Sabine," Specter One said in a low voice.

"Maybe I do."

"He's still awake," Specter Six warned suddenly, as Sathkan stirred.

 _I have to get up,_ he thought sluggishly, but the ringing of the Force was dazing him further still, hurting him with its sheer volume. It had grown even louder than it had been earlier, when he had come across Specter One.

There was a pause.

"Specter Four," Specter One commanded quietly. "Knock him out."

"My pleasure."

There was a flash of white, and then nothing at all.

Sathkan found himself being shaken awake.

"No..." he mumbled. "Leave me alone..." He rolled over, then moaned, feeling sick. He had a splitting headache.

A sharp electric zap jolted him into full consciousness.

"Yah!" he yelped, sitting bolt upright. He hit his head on something - which didn't help his headache at all. His head felt like it was going to explode. Sathkan clutched at it, groaning loudly. He could feel a large lump right on top of his head. It hurt to the slightest touch.

Sathkan heard a buzzing from his left. He turned his eyes that way and saw a battered Astromech droid waving its mechanical arms. He heard it make a noise similar to chuckling and scowled at it.

"That wasn't very nice," he muttered, watching the droid roll across the room and out the automatic door.

Sathkan blinked slowly.

 _Room... door._

Panic rose in his chest.

 _Where am I?_

Suddenly, he remembered everything. The mission. The rebels.

His being captured.

One hand pressed against his forehead, he slowly, slowly sung his legs over the side of the _bed_ he was in, and slowly, slowly stood up.

Nausea swept over him, but he fought it back and tried to get his bearings.

Sathkan was definitely in a bedroom. Behind him was a bunk bed, affixed to the back wall. Luckily he'd been on the bottom bunk and not the top.

Aside from the bed, the medium-sized room was empty - though something caught his gaze on the wall to his right, near the door. Curious, he took a step towards it.

Instantly, the room looked like it had been suddenly filled with water.

Sathkan stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, waiting out the vertigo. Then he opened his eyes again and slowly, gingerly walked forward.

When he reached the wall, he discovered, to his amusement, someone had painted a comical picture of what seemed to be Specter Six falling through the top bunk to land on top of Specter Four. He wondered who had drawn it - then wiped the smile off his own face, reminding himself that these people were _rebels._ They wanted to see the good Emperor fall, and the Empire destroyed. And they had captured him. He recalled that Specter One had had Specter Four hit him in the head so hard he'd blacked out.

But he also remembered how Specter One had made sure he was okay in the square, and defended him, and how Specter Five had warned him about the bomb...

Sathkan shoved those thoughts away. No, there _couldn't_ be any real good in them. If there were, they'd be in the Empire, right?

Unexpectedly, the automatic door beside Sathkan hissed open. He whirled to see who was there with a yelp - and was immediately so dizzy, he fell.

Someone grabbed him and eased him back to his feet before he could hit the floor, however.

"Careful there," said a gentle voice. "You should really be resting."

Sathkan blinked, his vision a little blurry. All he saw at first was _green..._ then the figure sharpened into a kindly, feminine face with green skin, vibrant green eyes, and two pale-green-striped structures at the back of her head that looked almost like _tentacles_ to Sathkan.

"No kidding..." Sathkan murmured.

The lady smiled and helped Sathkan stumble back to his bed. He sat down on the edge, and she sat beside him.

"That's quite the bump on your head," she noticed apologetically. "I'm so sorry. I've I had been there, I wouldn't have let them do that to you."

Sathkan only edged an inch away from her. _Rebel.._

The rebel woman looked down at him, her smile fading a little. She looked sad. Sathkan tried to ignore that. "What's your name?"

"Specter Seven," Sathkan said bluntly.

She sighed. "I'm Hera," she told him softly. "Hera Syndulla."

Sathkan stared up at her in shock. He hesitated, then slowly opened his mouth. _My name is Sathkan Lun._

But before he could speak a word, the Force split his head apart.

* * *

 **I hope you all liked Chapter 3 so far! Due to the immense-feeling length of my chapters and the tediousness of re-formatting and posting them into the Doc Manager, I've decided to start splitting them into parts. It'll be easier for me that way, and it'll probably feel like I post more a bit more often ;P Arty out for now & may the Force be with you!**


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